Minnesota Farmers Front and Center at MF Global Hearing

Press Release

The impact of MF Global's failure on Minnesota farmers and ranchers was front and center today at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing where U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar questioned MF Global CEO Jon Corzine on recovering Minnesota producers' lost funds. Last week, Klobuchar voted to subpoena Corzine to testify before the Committee, and today she pushed for answers on what happened to Minnesota farmers' and ranchers' funds. Klobuchar also invited Dean Tofteland, a Minnesota farmer affected by the MF Global failure, to testify at the hearing. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) called Tofteland the "star witness" for putting the problem in real terms.

"The collapse of MF Global has once again left the folks the system was supposed to protect holding the short end of the stick. Once again, Main Street is feeling the pain, and this time the heartland is bearing the brunt of it," Klobuchar said. "Those responsible for MF Global's failure must be held accountable for their actions, and I will continue to work to ensure farmers and ranchers in Minnesota and across the country can access their much-needed funds as quickly as possible."

"Business failures are nothing new. They happen every day on Main Street. The difference in this case is the missing money," said Tofteland. "What they call "unlawful comingling' on Wall Street is called "stealing' back on Main Street."

Last week, Klobuchar successfully pressed finance watchdogs to pass a key rule reform to close loopholes in the financial system to help prevent Wall Street from gambling with customers' money. During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing at the beginning of the month, Klobuchar pressed Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Jill Sommers, who is leading the Commission's MF Global investigation, for answers on how funds that were supposed to be kept safe in segregated accounts could now be in jeopardy and what the CFTC can do to help farmers and ranchers gain access to their funds as quickly as possible.

It is estimated that more than one hundred Minnesota farmers and businesses who have critical accounts with MF Global have been unable to access their funds since the firm filed for bankruptcy in October. Klobuchar's office has been working directly with Minnesotans who lost money due to MF Global's failure and pushing to recover the funds.

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